


Fate’s Design

by GhostOfTasslehoff



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Human Experimentation, M/M, Manipulation, Memory Loss, eventual Sefikura
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:15:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27280303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostOfTasslehoff/pseuds/GhostOfTasslehoff
Summary: Five years after the burning of Nibelheim, Cloud has stumbled his way into Midgar with little memory of what he’s been doing in the interim, and nothing to his name but a sword and the clothes on his back. He finds himself pushed into a cause he never asked for, and haunted by fragmented visions of a man who may not be quite as dead as he seems.However, it turns out that Sephiroth may not be just a vision. And he has plans for Cloud...
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife, Jenova & Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	Fate’s Design

Everything was green.

The world was silent, energy swirling and pulsing around Sephiroth with an ethereal glimmer as agony tore through his body, radiating outward from the ragged hole in his gut. He sank lower into the vast sea of green _,_ too wounded and weak to move, and fancied he could discern sinuous, reaching shapes in the ebb and flow surrounding him and his macabre cargo. Impressions of fire and lightning flickered and arced across his vision, the bright emerald glow slowly being extinguished by a menacing crimson aura until it was all he could see. _An eye?_

_‘Sephiroth.’_

The weight of that one word made him shudder, his broken body twisting under its sheer power. It was the voice of Jenova, a presence more vast than anything he had ever experienced before—it had been a mere whisper weaving through the back of his mind at first, mere nudges pointing the way to him, telling him where to look, what to ask. Then an itch gnawing at him that wouldn’t go away, a need to know, a compulsion to keep picking, to see, to dig, and _dig,_ and _DIG._ It had driven him to madness trying to uncover every gods-forsaken secret in this backwoods hellhole, until the only thing that had been left to him was a horrible, burning rage that threatened to consume him, and everything he touched. _Shinra really thought they could keep me an ignorant puppet forever._ Even at that moment, as his life slowly seeped out and stained the mako dark, Sephiroth wanted to laugh at the utter absurdity that he had ever thought himself human. _I am a monster. Alien. Ancient._

_‘Sephiroth.’_

His manic laughter stuck in his throat, and he seized up with a silent scream of agony, arching under the strain as it felt like every cell in his body tried to pull apart at once.

_‘NO.’_

Something long and thick that Sephiroth couldn’t see reached out to him, soft sinuous coils looping around his ruined abdomen. They burned, melting into his skin as if trying to become a part of him. _What is happening?_ He couldn’t scream.

_‘Live. Rest. Heal.’_

The searing pain continued, more of the grasping phantom limbs converging on him and merging with his body. _NO! It hurts!_

 _‘It will fade, my son.’_ The red flickered, as if the vast presence had blinked, and much thinner strands of silver reached for him.

Sephiroth tried to draw back, but as the filaments entangled him, they brought with them blessed relief… and a surprisingly steady warmth. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced. _Like… an embrace._ Tears sprang unbidden to his eyes at the caress against his cheek, and he turned into the touch with childlike wonder. _Mother…_

The presence softened, its voice sinking into every crevice of his mind, taking away the pain and filling him with a pleasant warmth. ‘ _Rest now.’_

Sephiroth shuddered once more and closed his eyes, cracked lips moving silently before he let himself slip into oblivion. _Mother… thank you._ The tendrils of Jenova’s hair twisted tighter around him like a cocoon, suspending him in the Lifestream as it carried his body away from the burning town of Nibelheim.

* * *

The heavy tread of boots sounded against the concrete, voices calling sharply to one another as they searched the reactor frantically.

“Check the holding chamber! We must recover the specimen!” Hojo called, his voice clipped and harsh as he checked each pod. He shook his head angrily, his frustration growing with each disaster. “No, no, no! Every one of them is destroyed!” He banged a fist down against the metal door of one pod and turned away from the burned husk inside. His life’s work had just gone up in flames, all because Sephiroth couldn’t keep his nose out of other people’s business.

A commotion broke out in Jenova’s chamber, and one of the young Specialists came barrelling out of the door, waving frantically. “Professor Hojo, sir! We’ve got two wounded, sir!”

Hojo whipped around and snapped at the man, “Tell me about the specimen, the _specimen!_ Is she intact?” The man hesitated, a fearful look crossing his face as Hojo snarled, “Out with it, you imbecile.”

“She…” Swallowing hard, the young man’s gaze flickered back towards the room. “Y-yes sir… in a manner of speaking.” Hojo’s impatient gesture made him stand up straighter. “The head is missing, but the body is still here, sir.”

“The body…” Hojo relaxed slightly, relieved that he hadn’t lost Jenova completely. Crossing his arms, Hojo rubbed thoughtfully at his chin for a moment. “Yes, I can work with that.” _And I have some ready-made test subjects from the survivors of the fire. Yes, this isn’t a total loss after all._ He glanced shrewdly at the young man. “Two wounded, you say? One of them wouldn’t happen to be Sephiroth himself, would it?”

“No sir, the General is…missing.”

Hojo blinked in surprise and pushed past the nervous Specialist to see who his men had found. His eyebrows shot straight up as he took in the scene in front of him. He recognized Zack Fair immediately, surprised to find the SOLDIER laying slumped against the wall near the door, badly wounded and unconscious. It was the trooper who lay crumpled on the walkway directly over the mako that caught his attention—or rather, the sword stabbed through the boy’s chest. _The Masamune. And no Sephiroth._ “Who is this trooper?” he asked, leaning down to check for a pulse. It was thready and weak, but it was there. “Hmmm…”

There was a rustling of paper, and then the Corporal spoke up. “PSD infantryman Cloud Strife, sir.”

“Cloud Strife.” Hojo eyed the Buster Sword and then looked back at Strife, a smile slowly beginning to spread across his face. The sword lay close enough to the fallen trooper that it looked as if the massive weapon had been wielded by the boy himself, but that should have been impossible for an unenhanced trooper. Should have. _And he somehow survived Sephiroth?_ “Interesting. Very interesting.” The pain contorting the young man’s face as he struggled to breathe made Hojo’s smile widen, a manic gleam in his eyes as he rose with a gleeful chuckle. “Oh yes, this one will do nicely.”  
  
He turned away and snapped his fingers, barking at the men as they snapped to attention. “Bring these two to my lab immediately for medical treatment. Do not damage them anymore than they are!” He needed them healthy if he was going to have any success. _Perhaps he will be the one to finally prove my reunion theory._ Hojo strode purposefully to the door, calling back over his shoulder, “And send for someone to retrieve the specimen.” _I have much work to do._

Deep below, unseen by the men working in the chamber, dark wispy shapes began to stir in the mako.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written with the _Monster_ prompt in mind, for the Sephtober event being hosted on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/sephtober) and [Tumblr](https://ffseven.tumblr.com/post/628876962263351296).

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you like it, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments, or on my tumblr ([MakoEyedMerc](https://makoeyedmerc.tumblr.com/)). This fic will loosely follow the events of Remake before it diverges. I _will_ be using my own more reasonable timeline, rather than adhering to the timeline of the game. 
> 
> I know this fic is still in the beginning stages, but I want to thank my lovely beta, [skuldchan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skuldchan/). Without her encouragement and advice, I wouldn’t have written this at _all_ , and I’m very excited to be able to share more with everyone. (And if you haven’t already checked out her work, you should!)


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